Photo Project Breaks Barriers in Morocco

By Nicolai Hartvig

Jan. 1, 2014

MARRAKESH — On a recent morning here at the new Marrakesh Museum of Photography and Visual Art, several women in colorful niqabs strode up to see images of themselves on a wall of 78 portraits taken by the American photographer Susan Meiselas. Some laughed and took pictures of each other with the art. Others hugged the photographer, who was present. And one woman, upon finding her sister’s portrait, protested that the picture should be removed.

The portraits are part of a project conceived by the Magnum cooperative and the museum — a three-month-old institution whose permanent building is scheduled to open in 2016 — in a country where photography is viewed with suspicion.

The MMPVA has set up inside the historic El Badi Palace, in a space granted rent-free for five years by the Moroccan minister of culture, Mohamed Sbihi, on the simple condition that it keeps mounting exhibitions.

When it opens in its final form, the MMPVA will be the first major international photography museum in Northern Africa. Marrakesh is home to the Maison de la Photographie, a 5,000-strong private collection of photos of Morocco from 1870 to 1950, which opened in 2009.

The museum project was conceived by the financier-turned-flamenco dancer and philanthropist Karen Ruimy and her family, who have roots in Morocco. They have provided seed funding and donations from their private collection to start a permanent one for the museum. “The birth of MMPVA gives witness to the sense of culture and history that Morocco has nourished in us,” Ms. Ruimy said in a statement.

Through the MMPVA Foundation, David Knaus, who leads the museum as its managing director, is working to expand its collection and seek further funds, in part through engaging with local supporters. “We always wanted to have a public-private partnership,” he said. “We think that’s the way to operate in this part of the world.”»

The current exhibition, which runs through Feb. 1 and features the work of five Magnum photographers, showcases the group’s impressions of Marrakesh. Different photographers share the same walls, with the works strung together “like nerves in our bodies,” said Jim Goldberg, one of the photographers.

The project began as an invitation to the Magnum group to capture their raw first encounters with the city. The assignment proved challenging because of language barriers and the mistrust of some locals who did not want to appear in photographs. “Rejection is around every corner,” Mr. Goldberg said.

“You don’t have language of either kind,” Ms. Meiselas said. “You don’t have your own literal language, or the language of photography, which is not yet accepted in certain ways.”

Faced with a society unaccustomed to photography as art, Ms. Meiselas chose to create a more comfortable context. At a pop-up booth on Rahba Kedima, or Spice Square, she offered to take portraits of women and then gave them the choice to either keep the photograph or receive 20 dirhams, or about $2.40, and allow the image to be exhibited. On the exhibition wall, bank notes of the Moroccan dirham represented the minority of women who chose to keep their pictures.

While shooting his contribution, Abbas, an Iranian-born photographer living in Paris who only goes by one name, was immediately confronted by a young girl who, though his camera was not trained on her, lifted her finger in protest. “You can feel the tension,” said Abbas. “So I decided to work on people within shadows. ‘You don’t to want be in the picture? Fine. I’ll grab your shadow.”’

Mikhael Subotzky, a South African, sped through the city’s dauntingly narrow and busy streets on the back of a scooter, capturing material for a dizzying split-screen video installation.

The British photographer Mark Power said that he stayed at a distance from his subjects.

Before the Magnum show, the museum opened in September with a show of 10 contemporary Moroccan photographers. They faced similar challenges. “People are not used to seeing other Moroccans take pictures,” said Hicham Gardaf, 24, the youngest artist in that show. Mr. Gardaf chose to photograph people where he lived. “I tried to approach the people and create trust, ” he said. “I would often produce prints to give them, to prove what I was doing. In time, I gained a reputation as a photographer in the neighborhood. And now people come to ask me to take their picture.”

After seeing the Magnum show, the architect David Chipperfield suggested it would influence his design for the permanent home of the museum, the location of which has yet to be determined.

“To build an elitist little museum here would not be interesting,” Mr. Chipperfield said in an interview. “It could be an offer to a younger generation who might really see the museum not just as a sort of temple but as a cultural social center. You want to make it as open as possible.”

The Magnum project has provided valuable insight for a museum that is seeking to connect with the Moroccan public and artists.Visitor numbers have remained steady at a few hundred on weekdays, but up to 1,000 on Fridays, the traditional day of rest.

“We were part of the beginning of a dialogue, more so than we understood,” Ms. Meiselas said. “There are Moroccans who have seen themselves in how we’ve seen them, so how does the subject or the viewer understand the work that’s being made about them, or for them? These young Moroccan photographers will also face that question.”